FAQ on HIV & AIDS AIDS
1. What is HIV & AIDS?
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). HIV slowly ravages the body's immune system and gradually progresses. AIDS is the final stage of HIV disease.
AIDS is a technical word-defined by the federal government and is diagnosed by having a T-cell (the most basic element of the immune system) count of less then 200 or the presence of certain opportunistic infections.
HIV is the virus, AIDS is the disease, and "HIV disease" is the most appropriate way to describe the continuum of HIV and AIDS.
2. Is AIDS over? Is there a cure?
There is not a cure for HIV disease. A variety of drugs are used to slow down the damage that HIV does to the immune system. When they are effective, these drugs reduce the amount of HIV in a person's body. However, the drugs do not totally rid the body of the virus. There is not a cure.
3. How do these drugs work?
HIV anti-viral drugs slow down the replication of the virus and the destruction of the immune system. They work for approximately half of those who take them. Their long-term effectiveness is unknown, and they require a complicated pill-taking regimen, which often produces significant and occasionally life-threatening side effects. The drugs are also costly, about as much as buying a new car every year.
4. How is HIV transmitted?
The virus must be present; meaning an individual must be infected with HIV in order to infect others. The virus needs access into the other person's bloodstream. HIV is introduced into the bloodstream through open cuts or sores and through contact with mucus membranes. Transmission is most likely when exposed to body fluids that have high concentrations of the virus.
Blood, mother's milk, semen and vaginal fluid discharged during sexual activity can contain high concentrations of the virus. Oral contact with blood and vaginal fluids presents a risk of infection as well. The virus has not been found in sweat or tears.
5. Can I get HIV from mosquitoes?
Mosquitoes or other sucking and biting insects do not transmit HIV. For a mosquito to infect someone, it would have to bite a person who was infected. Then, it would have to either immediately travel to someone else and infect that person from tiny drops of infected blood left on the sucker, or it would have to process the virus in its saliva and inject it into the next person. Mosquitoes do not do either of these things.
They do not travel from person to person. They do not carry enough blood on their suckers to infect anyone else they bite. And, they do not process the virus in their saliva. Once inside a mosquito, the virus lives for only a short time. Thus, the saliva mosquitoes inject into people cannot have HIV. If HIV were spread via animals and insects, there would be a high infection rate in people of all ages.
6. Can I get the virus from casual contact?
HIV is a fragile and hard virus to get. You do not get HIV from: sneezing or coughing, touching, hugging, dry kissing, public restrooms, saunas or showers, pools, sharing towels, sharing eating utensils or drinks, or being friends with a person who has HIV.
7. Is blood transfusion safe?
Blood is usually tested for HIV, hepatitis and other infectious agents when collected from donors. This practice is strict in most countries. Incidence of HIV transmission via blood transmission has been reported in the past but better measures has resulted in less frequency of occurrence and it is virtually non-existent in some countries.
8. Where did AIDS come from?
Until February of 1999, no one knew for sure where the HIV virus came from. There were several theories but nothing proven. In February, an international team of scientists reported that they had traced the roots of HIV-1 to a subspecies of chimpanzees in Africa. The researchers stated that chimpanzees are hunted and sold in the "bushmeat" trade, which during the slaughtering process may have placed people at risk for cross-species transmission through open cuts or sores.
9. Is there a new strain of HIV?
HIV is a virus and is able to mutate. There are two identified strains of HIV. HIV-1 and HIV 2. HIV-2 is not as virulent as HIV-1 and is epidemic only in West Africa. HIV testing in the United States usually only screens for HIV-1. Blood banks and plasma centers screen for both.
10. Are condoms effective in preventing HIV transmission?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that correct and consistent use of a latex barrier for protection during sex greatly reduces the risk of transmitting HIV. Knowing how to use a latex barrier correctly is important. Failure is largely due to incorrect or inconsistent use. Make sure that the barrier is latex or polyurethane; natural or lambskin have pores that HIV is able to pass through.
Never use oil-based lubricants like Vasoline®, salad oil or chocolate, which can cause tears and leaks in the latex, ultimately causing it to break. Instead, use a water-based lubricant such as K-Y Jelly®. Also, observe the expiration date on the package and tear it open carefully. Never use a product that has been previously used or exposed to heat or sun.
11. Can I get HIV from unprotected oral sex?
Yes, there are documented cases of HIV infection from oral sex with both men and women. Body fluids exchanged through sexual activity can enter cuts in the mouth and get into the bloodstream. Also, certain cells in the mucus lining of the mouth may carry HIV into the lymph nodes or bloodstream. Reduce the risk of HIV during oral sex by using a latex or polyurethane barrier such as a condom or dental dam.
12. What if I have another sexually transmitted Infection (STI)?
Research has shown that HIV transmission is 2-5 times more likely to occur when another sexually transmitted infection (STI) is present.
13. Isn't abstinence the only way to prevent HIV?
Abstaining from sexual activity or certain sexual behaviors can certainly eliminate risk. So can eliminating alcohol or other drug use that may impair judgment when in sexual situations. However, abstinence also has its own "failure rates." It is equally important for people to know how to reduce risk as it is for them to know how to eliminate it.
14. How is HIV transmitted through injecting drug use?
When needles and syringes are used for injecting drug use, blood gets into the injection equipment. If the initial user is infected with HIV and shares the equipment with someone else, the infected blood in the injection equipment will be injected directly into the body of the next person. In addition to HIV, other germs can be transmitted through injecting drug use. Transmission of Hepatitis C, a Hepatitis strain for which there is no vaccine, reliable treatment or care, is another example of a disease that can be passed when needles and syringes are shared for injecting drug use.
15. How can the risk of HIV infection from injecting drug use be reduced?
Groups such as the American Medical Association, the American Bar Association, and the American Pharmaceutical Association all recommend providing access to clean syringes to reduce disease risk among those who are unable to abstain from injecting drugs.
16. Can I get HIV from my doctor or dentist?
In the U.S., there has only been one documented case of HIV transmission from a health care provider to a patient. This case was reported in 1989 and involved a Florida dentist and the controversy about its reliability continues.
Health care workers are mandated by federal law to follow certain infection control guidelines to prevent infections from being passed from health care worker to patient and from patient to health care worker.
17. We all know how HIV is spread, so why continue to spend money on prevention?
HIV is like many other social and public health issues involving behavior, such as seatbelt use and speeding; people need to be continually reminded. Also, HIV prevention education reaches young people, many for the first time, with comprehensive sexual health information.
18. Do I need to get tested? Where can I get tested?
If you think you may have been exposed to the HIV virus through unprotected sex or the sharing of unclean needles, go to your doctor or an HIV testing site and ask for an HIV test. The most commonly used test to find out if a person is infected with HIV looks for the antibodies to the virus. Antibodies are produced by the immune system to fight the virus. The antibodies can take three to six months to show up in a person's blood. The time immediately after infection is known as the window period. During this time, an HIV test may come back negative because your body hasn't started to produce antibodies against HIV. You can transmit the virus during this window period.